Crucible of Steel and Flame

Crucible of Steel and Flame is the Tack Shooter Paragon. It combines Inferno Ring, Super Maelstrom and The Tack Zone into a tower that never stops spinning: four rotating streams of white-hot blades fly out around it, and each blade bursts into a ring of 8 tacks when it expires. It fires constantly, even when no bloons are in range. Its damage pops every bloon type, but it can only see camo bloons when an Ascended Shadow grants camo detection, which is unusual for a Paragon.

Stats at degree 1

• Blades: fired about every 0.03 seconds, 20 damage (+30 to bosses), 5 pierce.
• Tacks: 8 per expiring blade, 10 damage (+20 to bosses), 3 pierce.
• Range: about 42, and the blades reach slightly further.

Abilities

• Maelstrom (20 second cooldown): for 9 seconds, all blades and tacks last 2.5 times as long, covering a far bigger area, and a ring of flame bursts around the tower every second for 250 damage (+250 to bosses) on up to 80 bloons in a 45 radius.
• Meteor Impact (60 second cooldown): a meteor hits the chosen bloon about half a second later, dealing massive damage in a large area, then splits into 32 homing fireballs that can hit bloons repeatedly.

Like every Paragon, both abilities start on their full cooldown when the Crucible is created.

How to unlock Crucible of Steel and Flame

Unlock all three Tack Shooter tier 5 upgrades, then spend the XP shown at the top of this page to unlock the Paragon. In a game, own Inferno Ring (5-x-x), Super Maelstrom (x-5-x) and The Tack Zone (x-x-5) at the same time, select one and buy the Paragon upgrade. Every Tack Shooter on the map is absorbed.

Degree and how to raise it

The degree (1 to 100) raises damage, pierce, attack speed and ability recharge, and it is locked in at purchase. Power comes from:

• Cash spent on absorbed Tack Shooters (tier 5s excluded) plus the Paragon cash slider, up to 80,000 power.
• 6,000 power for each tier 5 beyond the required three.
• Damage dealt by absorbed Tack Shooters, up to 125,000 power.
• 2,000 power per Paragon Power Totem from Geraldo.

Degree 100 needs 200,000 power. Cheap Tack Shooters with cheap upgrades placed before the purchase are an easy way to add cash power.

When to buy it

The Crucible is a close-range Paragon, so placement matters more than for most. Put it where the track loops around it or passes right next to it, just as you would with The Tack Zone. Its many low-pierce hits make it a strong partner for debuffs such as Super Brittle, which add flat damage to each blade and tack.

Time Maelstrom for dense waves, since the longer-lived blades and flame ring cover much more track. Save Meteor Impact for the strongest single target, such as a BAD or a boss. Remember to bring camo detection through Ascended Shadow for rounds or bosses with camo bloons.

Is it worth it?

At $200,000 it is one of the cheaper Paragons and gives strong damage in a compact area, plus two useful abilities. Its weaknesses are camo, which only Ascended Shadow can solve, and maps where the track does not pass close to it. On a good loop with debuff support it is a strong late-game and Boss Events choice; on open maps with long straights, a Paragon with more range is usually better.

Frequently asked questions

How do you get the Crucible of Steel and Flame?

Unlock all Tack Shooter tier 5s and the Paragon with XP, then own Inferno Ring, Super Maelstrom and The Tack Zone together and buy the Paragon upgrade.

Can the Tack Shooter Paragon pop camo?

Only with camo detection from an Ascended Shadow. It does not accept other camo sources.

How much does Crucible of Steel and Flame cost?

$200,000 on Medium. Prices for every difficulty are on this page.

What does the Maelstrom ability do?

For 9 seconds it makes all blades and tacks last 2.5 times longer and adds a damaging ring of flame around the tower.